


Ladybug and the Star of Bethlehem Flower

by PunnyPrincess



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chat is his usual self, Chat is worried, Everything really is just all flipped, F/M, Ladybug has character flaws, Ladybug has to learn to be Chat Noir, Ladybug is sent somewhere to fix those flaws, New magic forces the author made up, Plagg is SO done with this Sleeping Beauty thing, Tikki misses Marinette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-22 11:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14307492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunnyPrincess/pseuds/PunnyPrincess
Summary: Ladybug has always been considered the "better" superhero, with Chat Noir as the sidekick.And with the Ladyblog and her power to fix any damage done to Paris, why wouldn't she be?But what happens when Ladybug falls into an alternate universe where she puns?Where ladybugs are bad omens and black cats are good luck? What will the star of bethlehem cause her to learn?





	1. Mlle Snow White

**Author's Note:**

> The Star of Bethlehem flower represents honesty, truth, and new beginnings.

Chapter One: 

Ladybug swung through the city, her grip on her yo-yo tight as she searched desperately for any sign of the latest akuma.

She had to admit, Hawkmoth was getting more and more creative. She had to bite back a giggle as she imagined him in his secret hideout, pencil in one hand and polished glasses in the other, sketching out costume designs for future akumas.

He'd even gotten more clever with the names; she was pretty sure he'd tried to make a pun with his latest. Surprisingly, Chat Noir hadn't commented on that yet... not that Ladybug was about to bring it up.

After a bit, she managed to glimpse a cloud of pink flowers swirling throughout the air, and quickly adjusted her route to follow.

"Chat?" she asked, curious to see if he'd caught up to her.

Sure enough, her partner was soon within view, running right beside her.

"Right here, m'lady," he winked, blowing a kiss, "miss me?"

"In your dreams," she smirked, swinging away from him.

Chat was back beside her in no time, giving her a cheeky grin before commenting on something else. "Geez, that smell is absolutely  _paw_ ful. I dare say it's worse then Princess Fragrance, and she made people  _sing_."

"Yeah, the fragrance is a little strong." she replied.

"Let's follow the trail of breadcrumbs, then, shall we?" he said, gesturing to the swirling cloud.

"One step ahead of you," she called, running towards it and preparing to lasso it with her yo-yo.

Before she could, the cloud spiraled down to 'land' on the rooftop, and Stamena appeared. Ladybug studied her, hoping to find a possible akuma source.

Stamena's outfit was a collage of pastel colors, as per usual, with flowers of different varieties adorning her neat ponytail. Nothing akuma-worthy that she could see.

"Hand over your Miraculouses, and they'll be no need for any harm," Stamena called, starting off the typical rant they always had with the akumas. Ladybug couldn't help but wonder, did they really think that she and Chat would just give up right then and there?

"No thanks, Stamena. I'll be keeping my earrings today," she retorted, preparing to dodge any blows that might come her way. To her left, Chat did the same.

"What's got you  _uprooted_  ? Shouldn't you be hibernating for the winter or whatever?" Chat asked and Ladybug couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"I'll have you know there are plenty of plants that live through the winter," Stamena shot back. She thrust a hand towards Chat, and he had to dodge a burst of moonflowers. They started to grow at a incredibly fast past, causing Chat to yelp before running out of the way.

"I don't even have to move," Stamena smirked, "my lovely flowers will capture you soon enough." Her claim seemed to be correct, as the flowers were, in a matter of seconds, almost to Ladybug's feet, and she had to join Chat in running away.

"Chat, watch out!" Ladybug yelled, realizing how close the flowers were to him. "You've really got to start looking behind you,  _minou_!"

Unfortunately, even with her warning, Chat had to yell Cataclysm a few minutes later after one of the moonflowers wrapped around his foot. He bent over to claw at it, and the flower shriveled away into nothing.

"Don't worry, there's more where that came from," Stamena said and, with a flick of her hand, caused a bouquet of tulips and roses to come after them.

Ladybug, as nimbly as she could, grabbed Chat and swung to the nearest roof.

"We only have a couple minutes," she started, "where do you think the akuma's hiding?"

"I'm not quite sure right  _meow_ , she's not really wearing any sort of jewelry."

"Maybe it's in a pocket or something?"

"Maybe, do you see any?"

"Nope," she sighed. On top of his newfound creativity, Hawkmoth had become partial to hiding the akumas in smaller places to make it more difficult for her and Chat.

"It could be her hairband? Seems to be the only item I can think of," Chat offered.

Ladybug looked over again. Sure enough, Stamena's hairband was a deep purple.

"Hawkmoth just loves messing with us, doesn't he?" she muttered, annoyed at how difficult it was going to be.

"I assume I'll be the distraction?"

She glanced over at him, about to nod her head when she realised a detail the two of them had forgotten about.

"Actually, you're going to detransform soon,  _chaton_." On cue, Chat's miraculous gave a beep and another part of his cat paw disappeared.

"I can wait," he started to argue, but by then the flowers had caught up to them, and she had to pick him up and dash off again.

"Go!" she replied, pushing him away. "I'll be fine, just recharge and meet me back here."

"But-" he tried to protest, but Ladybug just shook her head.

"You'll be of no help if you randomly detransform while we're in the middle of the battle," she retorted.

He opened his mouth before closing it again, and dashing off. "Be safe!" he called from the distance.

She sighed. Did he really think she wouldn't be able to handle this on her own?

She dove back towards the battle scene, careful to swing above the ever growing plants and using any backup routes she could find.

"Hey, Stamena. Nice to see you again." she called as she approached.

Stamena glared at her and sent a bushel of violets. Ladybug dashed to the right, swung for a couple blocks, and looped back around. It wasn't the best plan of attack, but it worked: even at the super speed the plants grew at, she was faster than them if she tried.

This time she tried to approach Stamena from behind. However, before she could call for her Lucky Charm, the roses from earlier caught up to her and forced her to swing away.

Reaching what she hoped was a good amount of distance from Stamena, she quickly caught her breath before taking off again. She reached Stamena without interruption this time, and made sure to make as little sound as possible while calling "Lucky Charm!"

A black and red polka dotted bag of seeds fell into her hands. She held it up in front of her and rotated it, but she saw no clue of what the seeds could possibly be. She quickly glanced around, scanning the horizon for Chat Noir, but found nothing. Sighing, she searched again, this time for anything that could help her grab the hairband with the seed packet.

Her eye caught on something, and she immediately knew what to do.

 

Meanwhile...

 

Adrien was thoroughly annoyed.

He'd been running to find a place to detransform when he ran out of time mid leap and ended up falling through the air.

Now he was on the ground, uncertain of the number of injuries he may or may not have obtained, and not wanting to find out.

He forced himself to get up, wincing with the pain.

"Finally!" his kwami hissed at him. "Took you long enough!"

"Ow," Adrien groaned.

"Yes, yes, you'll feel a heck of a lot better when you're Chat again. Now, I'm  _hungry_ , so let's find some food, okay?"

"Okay."

Adrien forced himself to walk towards the nearest building. In a rare turn of events, he'd managed to land right next to a bakery. Ladybug's luck must've rubbed off on him.

"Cheese danish sound good, Plagg?"

Plagg shrugged in response. "Now, hurry!"

Right! His lady was waiting for him! He hoped she wasn't in any trouble.

 

A little while later

 

Chat Noir rushed back to the scene, going faster then he ever thought was possible.

He was meet with groups of ladybugs swarming past, clearing the flowers away.

Even though he was disappointed he didn't need to help, he was glad Ladybug had been able to defeat the akuma.

That was, until he scanned the area and found Ladybug herself.

She was lying on the ground, clearly not moving. Lilacs and snapdragons hugged her body, and a single star of bethlehem was clasped in her hands.

He rushed over and felt desperately for a pulse. When he found one, he sighed in relief. At least he knew she was alive.

Chat looked up at her face, admiring her peaceful smile, and realized her normally bluebell eyes had turned a light shade of purple.

Confused and more than slightly worried, he dropped his transformation, not even bothering to check for people.

Plagg turned to face him.

"Sorry kid, but I've got nothing. This makes no sense." he shrugged.

"Can you try to communicate with her or something?" Adrien begged. He needed to know she'd be okay.

"I've still got most of my strength, so I can probably try to channel Tikki," Plagg murmured.

"Tikki?"

"Ladybug's kwami, duh." With that, Plagg closed his eyes. A black cloud slowly formed over Ladybug.

"Alrighty then, let's see if that worked." Plagg said, opening his eyes.

The cloud suddenly started turning a lighter, grey color before turning a rosy pink, and, finally, a deep red. The red spun around and a little figure appeared in front of him.

"Ah-buh, PLAGG?" the little creature, who Adrien assumed was Tikki, exclaimed.

"We're in a bit of a predicament here," Plagg responded, gesturing to Ladybug.

Tikki turned to look, and immediately flew down to Ladybug, a frown making its way onto her face.

"Oh no, please no! Not Ma-Ladybug," she cried, only just barely able to fix her slip up.

"So you know about this?" Adrien asked, hopeful.

"Only from what Trixx has told me. One of her cubs had a… similar scenario."

"What do we do?"

"We can't do anything, Adrien. Ladybug has to get through this one on her own."

"What? But what if Hawkmoth sends another akuma? What if she can't? What- what if-"

"Alright, buddy.  **Relax**. Ladybug's a perfectly capable girl," Plagg said, cutting him off.

"There's gotta be  _something_  we can do!" Adrien begged. He couldn't take the chance that Ladybug wouldn't make it.

Tikki seemed to ponder something before responding, "We could probably ask Trixx if we go to Master Fu… she only ever told me part of the story."

"Alright, let's do that," Adrien decided. "Plagg, claws-"

"Hold up kid, you'll look too suspicious as Chat Noir. For all we know, Hawkmoth already knows about Ladybug's state. You'll have to go as Adrien." Plagg interrupted.

"Plagg, you're forgetting about Ma-Ladybug," Tikki exclaimed, frowning at him.

Plagg sighed. "Can't we just leave the girl here? She'll be fine."

Tikki glared at him. "Since you seem to care  **so much**  about her safety, you can watch over her while Adrien and I go to Master Fu's."

"That's no fair!" Plagg complained. "You've already been to Fu's, let me have a chance. It's been  _decades_  since I saw him last."

"You should know by now to call him by the proper title, Plagg!" Tikki yelled at him, frustrated. "And, considering you've waited soooo long, you can wait a little more."

"But-"

"Nope! I'm going to go see him, and that's the end of it,"

Tikki fluttered to Adrien.

"So, Tikki's gonna take me?" Adrien asked, a bit confused.

"Mhm, and  **Plagg here is going to watch over Ladybug** ," she said, glaring at him until Plagg raised his paws in surrender.

"Alright, fine. I'll watch over Sleeping Beauty."

"We'll be right back, Plagg," Adrien assured him.

"Whatever."

 

Meanwhile...

 

It was dark, Marinette thought, Very dark.

And then, there was light. Very  _bright_  light.

Marinette blinked as she slowly opened her eyes.

Where was she?

A voice called out to her.

"Ladybug? Are you okay?"

Wait. She recognized that voice.

"Chat Noir?"

"Mhm."

Ladybug pulled herself up and glanced up at him. He stared back.

It was definitely Chat; black leather and all, but she couldn't help but feel like something was off.

"I guess your bad luck acted out again," Chat said, still staring at her.

"Huh?" Ladybug replied. Surely she must've mistaken his words.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Chat asked again, concerned. "Usually you've made at least a dozen puns by now…"

"Puns!?" Ladybug exclaimed. She never did that, albeit the occasional slip up after hanging out with Chat for too long.

Chat stepped towards her and she felt his gaze on her, probably checking her for injuries. It was something Ladybug herself usually did after Chat took a blow for her.

"No flirting either?" Chat said, clearly puzzled. "I might need to get you to a hospital."

Ladybug couldn't do anything but stand there, mouth wide open. She was met with awkward silence.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine!" she finally yelled, reaching for her yo-yo, and dashing off.

She landed on her balcony and detransformed, sighing in relief when Tikki flew out of her earrings, at least until Tikki started speaking.

"You okay kid?" Tikki asked.

"Uh-huh?" Marinette managed to say. Did Tikki just call her  _kid_?

Tikki sighed. "Honestly, kid, you'd think that you'd be used to the whole bad luck thing by now. You're a  **ladybug** , for god's sake, and yet you still get confused when you manage to fall down the stairs everyday."

"You're  **Tikki**!?" Marinette exclaimed.

"Last time I checked, that was my name."

"You're  **Tikki** ," Marinette whimpered.

"Alright, that fall most certainly was  **not**  far enough for you to have brain damage.  **I** am Tikki," Tikki said, pointing to herself, " **you**  are Marinette, your alter-ego is Laaadybug, and we're in your roooooom." Tikki explained, carefully pronouncing some of the words in her sarcasm.

"I know that!" Marinette protested. "It's just-"

"Well then, considering you've got the basics down, fetch me a pastry, will you?"

"I-I-" Marinette took deep breaths, trying to understand this. It was just too  _weird_. Tikki wasn't like this, and Chat wasn't like that, and she didn't flirt or make puns and this...

This was all just too much.

 _Yep, it's definitely too much_ , Marinette decided, and promptly fainted.


	2. A Chat Noir In Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette is puzzled about where she is, makes a list, and ends up googling puns and pick up lines.  
> Also including:  
>   
> -Adrien worrying too much  
> -Plagg being annoyed  
> -And Trixx reminiscing on the past.

* * *

Chapter Two:

Marinette woke up, drenched in freezing cold water. She glanced up at her room, then at her kwami. She blanked for a moment before remembering everything that had happened.

"Tikki, how could you?" she exclaimed, shivering and attempting to pull herself up to her feet.

"It always works in the movies," Tikki shrugged, "plus I believe  _you_  were the one that suddenly decided they had a flair for the dramatic."

"Sorry about that."

"Well, you're going to have to get over your apparent fear of fetching me pastries since now I'm even  _more_  hungry."

"Right, I'll go do that," Marinette told her before opening her trapdoor and walking down the stairs to the bakery.  _At least nothing had changed there,_ she thought, before accidentally slipping and falling down the stairs.

When she was on her own two feet again, brushing herself off from the fall, she realized just how bad her luck would be now that ladybugs were unlucky as well. Sighing, she continued to the kitchen.

A few minutes later she came up the stairs, arms filled with pastries and, after some contemplating over how much Tikki had actually changed, a couple chocolate chip cookies.

Tikki glanced over at her, quickly chirped, "This'll do," and proceeded to gobble up the pile. Marinette did her best not to stare, instead heading over to the computer. Her jaw dropped.

Gone was her familiar desktop collage of Adrien and in its place was… Chat Noir?

Yep, that was him.

She took a deep breath in, and decided that this was going to take some time to get used to.

She signed in, relieved to find her password was the same, and opened up her search engine; to find that, bookmarked next to the Ultimate Mecha Strike fanpage, wasn't the familiar  _Ladyblog_ , but instead a website called  _Noir News_.

She hesitantly clicked on it and scrolled through the posts.

 _Chat Noir's Costume: Leather or Something Else?_ ,  _Chat Noir's Been a Superhero 5,000 Years!?_ ,  _Chat: Fan of Ultimate Mecha Strike?_...

Marinette forced herself to take another breath in and out.

Once she was somewhat more relaxed, she shut her computer off and grabbed one of her design notebooks, flipping to a fresh page. She had to figure this out.

 

Confusing Things

-I apparently flirt with Chat Noir and make puns… about bugs I guess?

-Tikki has had a complete personality change.

-The  _Ladyblog_  has been replaced with  _Noir News_.

 

Whoever this Ladybug was, it was  _certainly_  not her. However, considering she was  _supposed_  to be her, Marinette needed to seriously figure out what Other Her was like.

She pushed the notebook to the side, and turned the computer on again, mentally hitting herself for shutting it off in the first place.

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the looking glass…

 

Plagg was bored. Really, really bored.

Mlle. Snow White over here hadn't done anything, and he was stuck either admiring the drab surroundings or shaking his head at Tikki's fashion choices.

She couldn't have been a  _little_  more creative with the costume?

While mentally disputing what had made Adrien fall for this girl, the boy himself appeared in front of him, panting and out of breath.

"Got… Trixx… necklace… Fu…" Adrien tried to say, clearly about to collapse. The stupid,  _stupid_  boy.

"Hey, kid!" he called, floating so he could be closer, "we don't need you channeling the Flash here, speedwalking would've been perfectly fine."

"But… Ladybug…"

"Does she look like she's moved? Because, I'm telling you, that girl hasn't so much as fluttered an eyelash."

Tikki flew out of his coat, lugging an all too familiar foxtail necklace with her.

"Couldn't you have just asked her at Fu's?" Plagg whined.

"Master Fu's, Plagg, and… a little help here?"

Sighing, he rolled his eyes before flying over and taking the other side of the necklace.

"You could've just dropped it on the ground once you got here, would've worked the same."

"Oh, yes, and I'm sure  _you_  would just  **love**  your miraculous lazily dropped on the floor, Plagg."

He huffed.

"Are you going to summon her?" Adrien cut in, desperately. "I've been running for 20 minutes straight, so if you could please…"

He and Tikki glanced at each other.

"Hey, Trixx, I know you're probably having a wonderful nap, but we'd  _really_  appreciate if you could come out of there for a couple minutes," Tikki coaxed, before glancing at Plagg.

He rolled his eyes before adding, "It'd be a real help, fox."

There was a few minutes of silence before a flash of orange blinded them all. The fox kwami that appeared lazily glanced around before yawning.

"I don't see my foxcub!" she exclaimed. "You'd better not have woken me up if I didn't get a new cub!"

"Trixx," Tikki began, "I know you don't like it but…"

Trixx placed her paws on her hip. "Give me one good reason-"

"She's right over there," Plagg interrupted, gesturing over to Ladybug.

Trixx turned around to see Ladybug before becoming thoroughly confused. "She's in a coma. How am I supposed to help with that?"

"Didn't this happen to one of your cubs before?" Tikki asked. Trixx turned to look again, and flew over once she saw the flower that was clasped in Ladybug's hands.

"Hmm? Oh!" Trixx exclaimed, clearly remembering now. "Oh, Kókkini! She was a real fox, that girl! Always-"

"So you know what happened?" Adrien cut her off, too relieved to let her finish.

"Well, yeah," Trixx replied, "but only what Kókkini told me. It was the strangest thing, the most talkative cub I'd ever had suddenly clamming up about something."

"So you don't know anything." Adrien said, sighing.

"I'll have you know I've heard far more about this then Master Fu can tell you," Trixx said, frowning.

"Sorry," Adrien apologised. "I'm just… worried."

"It's alright kitty. Now, let's see…" Trixx said.

"Okay, so… Kókkini. She was a Greek princess, daughter of King Constantine I. And yes, I know you don't want me to launch into a backstory," she said, glaring at Plagg, "but it's important to the story."

"Anyways, while 'kini was most definitely a fox in every way, she always had a chip on her back for not being allowed the throne. She'd help any servant or merchant, but when it came to a government official or priest she always turned up her snout.

"One day, shortly after deciding not to help a priestess that had come to ask her for a favor, I… walked out on her." Trixx sighed, shaking her head.

"I threatened to take away her miraculous and disappeared off into a nearby forest to calm down. I came back a while later to find her in the same state as your friend over there. She was out for weeks, and I thought it was my fault the entire time. Then, one day, she suddenly woke up. 'Kini smiled and hugged me, and, the next time she transformed, she helped one of the priests with some stolen sacrificial animals.

"The one time I ventured to ask about the experience, she replied that she was granted the ability to see the world through a new pair of eyes. She asked me what flower she'd been holding onto, and chuckled when I told her it was a hydrangea."

"So… you just had to wait for her to wake up?" Adrien asked, clearly puzzled.

"Mhm," Trixx replied, "nothing else worked. Trust me, I had my fair share of plans and methods to wake her up, but whatever magic she was under just repelled them all."

"But what about criminals or other problems? Was there some kind of trouble she couldn't deal with since she was comatose?"

"Oh, sure. The first thing that happened was a robbery.

"I tried everything I could to get her to wake up. I eventually just flew over to the scene and found a bouquet of cattails at the scene in front of the criminal, who had frozen in time. Any misfortune after that was cured by some flower or another." Trixx chuckled. "Oh, I remember when-"

"Flowers?" Plagg interjected. "Yeah,  _right_. Those things are  _far_  too delicate to aprihand thiefs, let alone the akumas we have to deal with. There's no  _way_  they helped you out with any real crimes. "

Trixx gave him a glare, suddenly tensing up.

"Seeing as my story isn't being taken seriously, I'll be leaving," she snapped. A cloud of orange enveloped her and then she was gone. 

"Plagg!" Tikki scolded.

 

Meanwhile…

 

After flipping through the different pages on _Noir News_  for some amount of time, Marinette found what she was looking for.

She clicked on the link, and watched the article load.

 

Chat Noir and Ladybug: The Basics

This article is for those new to Paris' superheroes, so enjoy!

**Who are they?**

Chat Noir and Ladybug are the ultimate super duo of Paris.

Their first sighting happened shortly after the first akuma appeared. (see akumas for more information on them) Ever since, they've shown up at any sign of danger to protect Paris.

**What are their powers and what do they do?**

Chat Noir always shows up to the scene with his metallic staff, which can extend to various lengths and work as a device for transportation and a weapon.

While he mostly fights with his staff, claws, and a mix of karate-like moves, sometime in the middle of the fight, Chat will use his special superpower by yelling "Cat's collar!" while flipping his staff. The bell that typically hangs on his neck will then shapeshift to become a random item that will (eventually) lead the duo to victory.

Once Chat uses the item and successfully defeats the akuma, he flips the item while yelling "Miraculous allay!"

This causes any damage that the akuma created to light up with a cat paw before turning back to its original state, leaving no need for a clean up crew or casualty expenses.

Pretty cool, huh?

Ladybug is Chat's faithful partner, always jumping into battle with her yo-yo and a array of puns, usually bug-related.

Her special superpower can be used once to destroy any object. She simply yells "Haemolymph!" and her normally red and black polka-dotted yo-yo turns blue-green, almost turquoise. The next time she loops her yo-yo around something, it disintegrates.

Hope this was helpful to any newbies!

Your loyal reporter,

-Alya Césaire

 

She stared at the screen. She was going to have to learn to pun.

"Hey, whatcha up to?" Tikki asked, floating over Marinette's shoulder.

She quickly switched tabs. "You know, just some school project."

"Mhm," Tikki responded, not sounding the least bit convinced.

"Alright, fine. I've… managed to get Punner's Block."

"Punner's… Block?" Tikki repeated, looking at Marinette as if she was crazy.

"You know, Writer's Block, except for punners like me?" Marinette paused, "I- I just can't do it! The puns don't come to me!"

She slumped down, mentally channeling her inner Chat.

There was silence as Tikki stared at her. "Oh my god, you're obsessed."

"It's absolutely awful, and it's really  _bugging_  me!" she whined, cringing at how forced the pun was. She'd really have to work on that.

"You're right, that was terrible," Tikki decided.

"I know," she said, sounding as miserable as possible. "Tikki, I'm just suddenly  _gnat_  good at puns. Help me out?"

Tikki visibly winced. "Alright kid, but just because I don't know how much longer I can survive… that."

 

A long while later

 

"I just don't get it!" Tikki complained. "How do you go from a pun expert to awful?"

" _Wasp's_  even the point anymore," Marinette groaned.

"Yes, yes!" Tikki yelled, jumping up and down. "There you go! That's how you pun. Now, if you'd just keep doing that, I won't need to bleach the last few hours from my memory."

"Well, on  _bee_ half of those hours, what do you say I sneak you some pastries?" Marinette said, winking.

"I'd never say no to that!" Tikki replied.

When Marinette came back up she was smiling a Chat Noir grin.

"Hey Tikki, do you think this  _mite_  be too much?"

"Too many puns? Yes. Not enough food, though." Tikki retorted.

"Oh, alright. I'll stop  _bugging_  you."

"Mari-"

"Sorry, sorry! It just slipped out," Marinette quickly exclaimed, trying to put an innocent face on and failing.

Tikki just sighed and started nibbling on an eclair. She was about to start on a macaron when Marinette suddenly blurted, "Tikki, do you think I should come up with more nicknames for Chat? I mean, he seemed  _paw_ fully worried about me yesterday when my Punner's Block started."

Marinette had no desire to come up with any nicknames for anybody, but she desperately needed to know what she called Chat in this world.  _What was the masculine version of m'lady?_

"Marinette, you will  **not**  come up with any more ridiculous nicknames. I've just barely adjusted to your insistence on calling him m'lord. Honestly, kid, that one was enough to make  _me_  faint the first time you said it."

_M'lord? What was this world's Ladybug **thinking**?_

The puns weren't  _too_  bad, but the nicknames? It'd be a miracle if she could manage to call Chat that with a straight face.

Oh god, she forgot about the flirting. She'd have to deal with that part of her new personality too.

"Sure, whatever you say," she replied slyly.

Tikki glared at her.

Marinette walked towards her computer, prepared to research pick up lines, when she noticed the time. 9:02.

It was already nine!?

Back home, her parents had a strict 9:30 bedtime, which she would have to assume had transferred here.

Great. She had half an hour to become a playful flirt.

 

Far more than half an hour later

 

It was 10:41 before Marinette had been able to fully memorize a handful of flirty lines, and convey them somewhat playfully.

Tikki had caught her muttering the lines under her breath more than once, but she seemed surprisingly used to it.

Marinette couldn't help but wonder if Chat did this back home. She chuckled, imagining him scroll through pages to find the one that'd make her blush. She'd always been glad that her ladybug mask covered most of her cheeks.

Maman had come up to check on her not a minute past 9:30, and Marinette, thankful she'd done this before, had shut off the computer and pretended to have fallen asleep drawing designs. As soon as her mother turned off the lights and left, she resumed her practice.

At the time, she'd muttered something about only doing it for 15 more minutes or so, but… here she was.

She glanced at the screen one last time before logging off, sighing.

Tikki glanced up at Marinette from one of her pillows and sleepily asked, "You finally going to bed now?"

"Yep," she replied, about to crawl into her comfortable covers before realizing… she would probably need to set her alarm. She'd also probably need to take precautions, considering the extra bad luck she was being granted via Tikki.

So, once her phone confirmed that her alarm was set, she went ahead and set another for five minutes later, one for five minutes after that, and one five more minutes after that one.

Yawning, Marinette fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillows.

Tikki looked at her fondly, muttering about what a silly bug her Chosen was before heading to sleep as well.


	3. M’Lords and Ladies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette has to try and live in a flipped world, with only Alya as a constant— and has to face an akuma battle.
> 
> Also including:  
> -Adrien and the kwamis visiting Master Fu (this time WITH Plagg) to find out more.

Chapter Three:

 

Marinette woke to the ridiculously annoying sound of her alarm. She groaned and attempted to pull the covers over her face, only to have them pulled way by Tikki.

"Five more minutes…" she begged.

"Kid, this is your **third** alarm. I'm on verge of breaking your phone in two if I have to hear that stupid ringtone any longer." Tikki replied, clearly annoyed.

"Third… oh god Tikki, I've got to get ready!" Marinette realized, rushing out of bed and trying to pull her hair back into her typical ponytails as fast as possible. A whole fifteen minutes had been thrown off her usual schedule, meaning she had less then ten minutes to be at school. 

She had finished styling her left ponytail when she halfheartedly glanced in the mirror. She gasped.

Her normally blue eyes had turned purple, and she appeared to have a some kind of white flower tucked in her hair. She tried to touch it, but her hand passed straight through.

"Weird," she muttered.

"Everything okay, kid?" Tikki asked, fluttering over. 

"Yep!" she replied.

Tikki gave her a curious look but didn't press. 

However strange it may be, she had more important problems.

She threw on one of her plain shirts and a pair of jeans, not caring that she'd totally deterred from her usual style, and rushed downstairs. 

Thankfully, her bad luck seemed to have relaxed for a bit, as she made it downstairs in record time. She grabbed a pastry or two, gulped down a glass of water, and rushed out the door after saying goodbye to her parents.

She was halfway down the street when a certain red kwami finally caught up to her. 

"MARINETTE!" Tikki yelled as loud as she could get away with. "I think you're forgetting a **little something**!"

"Sorry Tikki!" Marinette apologized.

"Well, so long as you got me something to eat as well, I can probably forgive you." Tikki replied, sighing. 

Marinette gave Tikki one of of the croissants she'd taken on her way out, and opened up her purse for Tikki to hide in. Tikki looked at her strangely before carefully fluttering in.

Not noticing the look because of the adrenaline rush, Marinette took off again.

She made it into class only two minutes late, accompanied by an impromptu excuse the teacher clearly didn't believe in the slightest, and prepared to sit where she normally did… only to find that Alya was sitting in the front row.

She sat down there instead, somewhat disoriented, and muttered something about being too tired to function properly in hopes to keep Alya from getting suspicious.

Mlle. Bustier launched into an explanation about a new formula in Math, and Marinette tried her best to concentrate.

"... which means that 76 is the dividend of the problem, leading the final answer to be 23 ," Kim finished. 

"Excellent job, Monsieur Lê Chiến! And if the variable was negative?" 

"Then…" Kim proceeded to go into a lengthy train of formulas and methods Marinette understood absolutely nothing about. She could already tell this was going to be a _long_ day.

Luckily, after a couple more hours of Math and History, both of which seemed to blend into each other to become one confusing mess in Marinette's memory, it was time for lunch.

This time, to make sure that she didn't mess up the seating, she followed Alya a couple steps behind. They reached a table, and Alya got out her lunch, causing Marinette to realize she'd forgotten back hers. 

Marinette ended up nibbling on a couple of Tikki's chocolate chip cookies, which, as turned out, Tikki still liked quite a bit. Meanwhile, Alya launched into her typical chat about her favorite superheroes.

"Can you believe it, Marinette? She got up after that fall and didn't make a **single** cheesy pickup line! This from, _**Ladybug**_ , the **literal** queen of puns and shameless flirting!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, how weird!" Marinette replied, pushing as much surprise as she could into her voice. Acting like Other Her would be even harder with Alya constantly on her back.

"And then, get this, she **LEFT**! She just **swung away** without even doing her signature high five with Chat! How _crazy_ is that?"

"Really, _really_ crazy! I can't believe it!" Marinette made a mental note to add that to the ever-growing list of things she needed to remember.

"I can't either! It's not like Ladybug at all…" Alya murmured, and Marinette mentally panicked when Alya's _Theory Mode_ face appeared.

"Yeah, that fall must've been pretty far!" she quickly added. 

"Oh- speaking of which! I originally thought that too, so I went ahead and calculated the distance, and that fall should've only left a light bruise.

"Ladybug's taken heavier blows and still been her punning self to Chat, so it makes no sense that brain damage could have occurred. I even went so far as to calculate the speed she was falling out, and it still didn't add up!" 

"Wow, Alya, I didn't know you were so interested in Physics!"

"Eh, whatever. I just need to get the best content for _Noir News_!" Alya said, shrugging.

"Of course." Marinette responded, not able to hold back her smile at how dedicated her friend was. 

"I even drew up an article on it! I'll have it published by tonight, so make sure to check it out, Marinette!" Alya replied.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to read it- as soon as I'm finished with homework!" Marinette promised. 

"Can I be sure that you won-" 

A loud crash from a collapsing wall interrupted their conversation. A voice echoed throughout the building.

"I AM TRAIN WRECK! BRING SABRINA TO ME AND I MIGHT LET YOU LIVE!" it commanded.

_Sabrina? Why would he want Sabrina?_ Marinette thought, puzzled. She quickly told Alya to get to safer ground, knowing full well she'd stay in the chaos to get a video for _Noir News_ but deciding to try anyways, and bolted to the nearest bathroom.

She opened up her purse.

"Okay, Tikki, Spots-" she started, but Tikki interrupted her.

"Not happening, kid. You didn't even bother to save me a cookie!" she scolded, clearly hangry and annoyed.

"Sorry, sorry! I promise you, I'll get you some as soon as I can," Marinette pleaded, having forgotten about Tikki's new personality in the rush.

"And some apple danishes?"

"Yes, sure! Now, please!" 

"Alright, fine." Tikki lamented.

"Spots On!" Marinette yelled. 

 

Meanwhile, somewhere over the rainbow… 

 

"How _could you_?" Tikki yelled.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Tikki." Plagg replied, shrugging.

"We've lost our **only source** of information! That is **NOT** something you can just-" 

"Alright, Tikki. I get it, I messed up. However, we can't exactly fix that, and we need to get the necklace back to Fu," Plagg interrupted. "Since we can't exactly wake up Sleeping Beauty over there with some True Love's Kiss - Adrien don't you even _try_! - we'll just have to leave her here."

"No way! I'm staying with Ladybug!" Adrien insisted. "She could wake up at any moment!"

"Plagg's right, Adrien, we can't wake her, and I doubt she'll wake up in the hour or two we'll be gone… from what Trixx told us, she'll be out for a while."

Adrien still looked doubtful, and Plagg cut in. 

"Kid! Stop acting like a lovesick kitten, it's not going to help the situation at all."

"You're right," Adrien sighed, "I… I'll just have to stop worrying some much." Despite his words, his expression hadn't changed at all. 

"Adrien, she'll be fine. Ladybug is a strong girl, she'll wake up." Tikki said, fluttering over to land on his shoulder. Adrien smiled at her halfheartedly.

"Can we go now?" Plagg asked. "I've already been cheated out of visiting Fu once!"

"Yeah, yeah." Adrien replied, letting both Tikki and Plagg fly into his coat.

However, unable to leave just yet, he walked closer to Ladybug, deciding to lean down on his knee and carefully placing her hand in his.

"Wake up soon, m'lady," he whispered, gently kissing it before walking away.

Inside his coat, Plagg shook his head. "Kid's too infatuated for his own good," he mumbled.

Tikki glanced up at him. "I only wish Marinette would realize," she replied, sighing. 

"Yeah, they're both _really_ oblivious." Plagg agreed.

 

 

 

A little while later…

 

Adrien opened up the door to the "massage parlor."

"Chat Noir, back already?" Master Fu asked, greeting him. "I certainly hope Trixx was able to give you some more knowledge about the situation at hand." 

"Yeah, we learned a lot," Adrien responded, deciding not to disclose Plagg's outburst as he opened up his jacket to let Tikki and him out.

"Yet I don't see Trixx herself?" Master Fu inquired.

"Ah, she… decided to go back to sleep." Adrien fibbed.

"Plagg got on her nerves then?" Catching Adrien's surprised look, Fu added, "Adrien, I've dealt with these kwamis for well over a century; I've seen plenty of Trixx and Plagg's quarrels." 

Plagg grumbled, avoiding Fu's gaze as he and Tikki carried the fox miraculous back to him. 

"Here you go!" Tikki chirped, leaving it in Master Fu's palm.

"Thank you Tikki," Fu replied, poking the lock combination into the gramophone and placing the miraculous in its designated spot once it opened up. 

"You'll meet your cub in due time, Trixx," he murmured before closing the gramophone again.

"Now, Plagg. Would you like to join me for some tea?" he asked patiently, gesturing to Tikki and Adrien to show the invite was extended to them.

Tikki looked at Plagg and shrugged, ignoring Adrien's worried glances and heading after Master Fu.

Plagg turned around to Adrien, and assured him that his girlfriend wouldn't be going anywhere.

Adrien blushed a deep red at the comment and hurried after.

 

After some time…

 

When the tea was poured and everyone was seated, Plagg surprisingly compliant without cheese, Master Fu started talking. 

"I must offer my apologies to Plagg for not coming along with Adrien when he went back with Trixx's necklace. I felt that accompanying him would seem more suspicious then Adrien just going on his own."

"Whatever," Plagg replied, shrugging.

"Now, what did you learn from Trixx?" he inquired. 

"Well-" Tikki started, only to be cut off by Plagg.

"She's under some sort of spell that keeps her in some Sleeping Beauty state except no one can wake her up but herself," he summarized.

Tikki glared at him before filling Fu in on the rest. "The spell also conjures specific flowers to any sort of crime or injustice that she'd usually be there to solve."

Plagg scoffed. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"The whole point is that **Trixx** saw it, Plagg," Tikki retorted, sighing.

"Do you know anything about this spell, Master Fu?" Adrien asked.

"Wayzz?" Master Fu asked. 

"Considering Trixx seems to be the only kwami to have ever experienced it, I doubt there's much information recorded outside of what she told you," Wayzz commented, looking up from his tea. "I could probably look in the Olden Records if you needed me to."

Adrien slumped. "There's nothing about some flower curse?"

At the choice of words, Wayzz perked up. "Not a curse, per say, but there is one about a blessing."

He flew out of the room and returned later with a book, yellowed with time. For its apparent age, it was surprisingly dust-free. When Wayzz placed it down, they were able to see an ornate design on the cover, rainbow colored lines interlocking and separating into some sort of web. 

"This is the very first Scroll of the Miraculous, from back when the First Guardian was assigned to the kwamis. He recorded all sorts of information he learnt about regarding any sort of magic."

Wayzz slid the book over to Fu, who began gingerly flipping its pages. Plagg put down his teacup and started to fly over, but was caught by Adrien.

"Plagg, you can see it perfectly fine from over here. Don't forget, curiosity killed the cat and all."

"Why does **no one** remember the line about satisfaction!?" Plagg exclaimed, clearly annoyed at the topic.

"The first line's more rhythmic? I don't know," Adrien said, shrugging.

Master Fu flipped another page and Wayzz flew over, pointing to the symbol of the Lotus flower on it. 

"Master Fu, that's it!" he exclaimed.

"Ah, _The Blessing of the Flowers_ ," Fu remarked. "I wonder why I've never heard of it before."

"Perhaps, Master, because it's only happened once before?" 

"Ah, yes, that'd make sense."

  

 

 

Back to the other clinghanger the author left you on…

 

 

 

Ladybug was dodging a boulder that Train Wreck had thrown when Chat Noir yelled "Cat's collar!"

She watched in wonder as his bell rolled into his hand and spun into a golden cloud. It was one thing to read about it and another entirely to see it.

_Was this what happened when she yelled Lucky Charm?_  

The cloud parted to reveal an object that she couldn't see due to the distance between them. She ventured to walk closer. 

"Ladybug, watch out!" Chat called, and she was hit with déjà vu, hesitating before flipping out of harm's way. 

"Don't _bee_ worrying 'bout me, m'lord, I'm far too graceful to be crushed by mere steel," she replied, winking and flexing her arm… before realizing she'd punned without trying. 

She really hoped this wouldn't _bee_ a habit.

When Chat Noir rolled his eyes Ladybug was hit with an out-of-body experience. It was just so _weird_.

"Alright bug, just be more careful next time," he reprimanded, dodging a blow while making sure to keep the item clutched in his hand.

"Anything for you, m'lord."

Chat sighed. "Any clue where the akuma might be?"

Ladybug glanced at Train Wreck. "His earring looks pretty suspicious," she offered, noting the eerily glowing piece of jewelry on Train Wreck's left ear.

Chat took another look before nodding, "Yeah, that's our best bet."

"Can you just _save me already_?" Sabrina yelled from inside the impromptu cage Train Wreck had created, clearly annoyed. "My manicure will get _ruined_!"

Chat shook his head at Sabrina and started surveying the area with the same look Ladybug was used to using herself, trying to figure out what he could use his Collar Charm for. 

However, determined to ruin their plans, a boulder crashed in front of them, causing them to be trapped in their _own_ makeshift cage.

"I'm thinking I _mite_ want to use Haemolymph…" Ladybug implied.

When Chat nodded, she momentarily panicked. 

She knew she had to yell the phrase, but what did she usually do along with it? There was usually some sort of move that the superpower was accompanied by…

She finally decided to copy Chat and throw her yo-yo in the air, yelling "Haemolymph!" before internally groaning when _this_ Chat looked at her strangely. 

" _Wasp's_ the point of being a superhero if you don't change things up from time to time?" she quickly remarked. "No fun in being a _drone_!"

"That last pun was _horrible_ ," Chat said, shaking his head. 

"You offend me, m'lord," she retorted, looping her newly colored yo-yo around the boulder and watching it disintegrate. 

Finally!" Sabrina exclaimed, having watched the scene from where she was. " _Took you long enough_ , Ladybug."

Ladybug sighed and dismissed the comment. 

Chat Noir jumped into action, throwing the item, which turned out to be a metal hoop, at an angle. The hoop bounced back and forth from wall to wall until it ended around Train's hands, preventing him from creating anymore possibly dangerous objects to throw.

She watched as Chat did a series of flips until he reached Train Wreck, undoing the earring while saying, "I'll be taking this!" 

He threw it on the floor, stepped on it, and purified the akuma once it was released by spinning his staff around it. Once the butterfly started to flutter away, Chat spun his Collar Charm and yelled, "Miraculous allay!"

Cat paws glowed green all throughout the building, eventually disappearing as the cafeteria was turned back to its normal state.

Ladybug ran up to Chat, about to close her hand in a fist to "Pound it!" when she remembered she was supposed to high five him instead. She was, by some _miraculous_ feat, able to smoothly turn the fist pump into a high five. 

"Victorious again!" Chat exclaimed, smiling as their hands collided. 

"Victorious again!" Ladybug chorused, grinning as well.

"I'd better be on my way, m'lord, catch you later!" she said, bowing before leaving the scene. 

"Chat, CHAT!" Sabrina yelled, running up to him. "That was **so** cool! Can I get a selfie?"

Ladybug chuckled, watching this world's version of Chloé squish next to Chat Noir and bombard him with her phone's camera mode. She could be _quite_ the fangirl.

Ladybug ran into a janitor's closet and whispered, "Spots Off, Tikki," before her miraculous could finish beeping. 

"School's probably been cancelled because of the akuma, so I can head home and you can get those pastries," Marinette told Tikki, oblivious to the kwami's stare. 

She opened up her purse before glancing up at Tikki. 

"You okay, Tikki?" she asked, a little worried. The typically adventurous bug hadn't moved since Marinette had detransformed.

Tikki moved closer to Marinette.

"Who are you, and what did you do with Marinette?" she said, eyes a stony glare.


	4. More Questions and Fewer Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette informs Tikki of her situation, the author throws you into a very convenient flashback, and Marinette practices being like Other Her again, this time with Tikki as her Impromptu Trainer. 
> 
> Also including:  
> -The First Guardian's diary  
> -Adrien's depression  
> -Whispered conversations inside Adrien's coat

Chapter Four:

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Marinette blurted, trying desperately to sound convincing.

"Yeah,  _right_." Tikki retorted, still not moving from her spot.

"First there was the 'Punner's Block,' then you opened up your purse when I  _always_  hide in your jacket, and then you  **completely**  messed up on Haemolymph. And don't even get me started on your sudden ability to be  _totally fine_  with Sabrina all over Chat."

Marinette cringed. She had been a horrible Other Her. She  _really_  needed to start taking better notes.

But now, however, she had to deal with her kwami.

"Oh, alright" she said, sighing. "I'll try to explain, but don't blame me when it sounds ridiculous."

"Kid, I've definitely heard stranger things." Tikki replied, shrugging.

"Okay, so…" Marinette started, debating over how to explain. "I am Marinette, but just not _your_ Marinette."

When Tikki gave her a confused look, Marinette backtracked a little.

"Back where I live, I'm still Marinette and Ladybug, but Ladybug's… lucky. The _Ladyblog_ , my world's version of _Noir News_ , is dedicated to her, and _Chat Noir's_ the one who flirts and makes all the puns."

"So… you live in an alternate reality?" Tikki summarized, looking surprisingly calm about the situation.

"Yeah… yeah that's it!" Marinette exclaimed, glad her dilemma finally had a name.

"And you got here by…?" Tikki questioned.

"Well…" Marinette began.

 

_Cue flashback because the author says so..._

 

_Ladybug grinned, swinging her yo-yo around. She flipped over to Stamena, undoing the akuma's ponytail and grabbing the hairband. She snapped it in two and swiped up on her yo-yo to purify the akuma._

_Once she did, she let it go free, calling, "Bye, bye little butterfly!"_

_She threw the now-opened bag of seeds up into the sky, yelled "Miraculous Ladybug!" and watched happily as the swarms of ladybugs flew around, taking care of all the pesky flowers that had caused her and Chat so much trouble._

_**Wow** , she thought, **I did it without Chat! That's… weird, but at least it'll show him I'm perfectly capable on my own**._

_She was waiting for the kitten himself to show when she was blinded with a bright light._

_When Ladybug opened her eyes again, she looked around to find that the familiar rooftops of Paris had disappeared._

_Instead, she was in the middle of a beautiful garden._

_**Had Stamena caused this?**  she wondered, taking a careful look around._

_Unable to think of anything else to do, she took a step forward, and a dirt path appeared. She looked down at it, wary of whatever magic had created it, and found that it already had a pair of footprints embedded on it. Curious, she decided to follow them._

_Ladybug looked up from her feet to find thousands of flowers peeking up at her; a colorful blend of pastels and dark colors that echoed throughout the limits of her vision. As she walked by, she swore some leaned towards her and some tilted away._

_Eventually, however, the flowers faded into the distance, leaving only grass._

_A pond appeared in front of her, most likely created by whatever force had made the path, and she took a minute to glance at her reflection._

_She was not Ladybug anymore, but Marinette._

_Her normal ponytails had been discarded, her blue hair instead trailing down to her shoulders in waves. A flower crown rested on her head, made up of narcissuses and thorny red roses._

_Suddenly, a gust of swept around her, causing her to shiver._

_"Hello, Marinette." a gentle voice called._

_Marinette looked up to find an older woman, hair fiery red, staring back at her. Her glittering green eyes echoed a smile, but her face itself was frowning._

_"H-hello?" Marinette asked, unsure whether she was real or not._

_"Ladybug, Marinette." the woman said._

_"What- how did you-" Marinette started to say, but she was interrupted._

_"Such a leader," the woman said, shaking her head gently. "Yet I fear you have forgotten how to follow."_

_Marinette tilted her head, confused, and the woman continued._

_"I have walked in your shoes before, Marinette, and you will soon follow mine." she promised. "All will make sense in due time, Ladybug."_

_**Why was she referring to her as both Marinette and her kwami counterpart?**  Marinette wondered, puzzled._

_"Why shouldn't I?" the woman replied. "You are both, are you not?"_

_**Was she?** _

_"Ah, but that you are." the woman chidded. "Now, shall we?"_

_"Huh? What?" Marinette blurted, incredibly wary of the situation._

_She watched as the woman placed her hands around Marinette's, adjusting their position until they were cupped together. Once this was done, the woman pulled her own hands away and muttered something in another language._

_A lotus appeared inside Marinette's newly cupped hands; just a bud at first, but blooming into its full potential in mere seconds._

_"Now, Marinette… Ladybug… which flower will choose you?" the woman wondered._

_"Wait, choose? What!?" Marinette exclaimed. This made no sense!_

_The woman simply shook her head and smiled before fading away._

_"Wait! Where- what?" Marinette tried to reply, puzzled._

_The lotus suddenly exploded into a pink color. Alarmed, Marinette took her hands away. The pink flew around her, wrapping Marinette in its color._

_"Go forth," it called, "young Star of Bethlehem."_

_And then, the garden was suddenly no more._

_Marinette was left in the twilight of a completed spell._

_**It was dark** , Marinette thought,  **Very dark**._

 

And… end of flashback!

 

"Huh…" Tikki muttered. "You're right, this  _is_  strange."

"Yeah, and now I'm stuck trying to impersonate whoever this world's Ladybug is."

"Well, kid, you're going to need some  _serious_  training if you're going to be this world's Ladybug. Your friend Alya is a real hound, any mistakes you make won't slide past her."

"Right," Marinette remembered, groaning. "We'd better go home and start practicing, I guess."

Watching Tikki open her mouth, Marinette quickly added, "And - I'll get you some pastries!"

"I don't know, kid. It'll just be so much work…" she drawled.

"What do you want? Some cupcakes? Cookies?"

"Both'll do nicely," Tikki decided, winking.

"Alright," Marinette replied, sighing.

 

Meanwhile, back at the other side of the story…

 

"Master Fu?" Adrien prompted. "If you could please read it aloud…"

"Ah! Yes, yes, of course!" Fu replied, looking up from the entry. "My apologies, Adrien."

_Year of the Rabbit- 3rd month._

_The Blessing of the Flowers_

_To fully entail what I have learned from Liánhuā, I must address some exposition._

_Nature was here first, that I have to confirm, alas in lieu of the many other myths we have decided upon._

_It was Nature that allowed us to form, kwamis and Chosens, and Nature that has to oversee the consequences of our actions._

_Thus, Nature has been said to have created some sort of power… (here the ink smudged to illegibility)... that will help restore peace and jurisdiction should we ever fall to disorder._

_Liánhuā has told me that the power cannot be controlled or used in any deleterious way, that it is managed by Nature itself and only that._

_She, even as the Lotus Priest, was unable to diverge the methods of the power to me; I can only assume it will in someway guide the agitator to a path of serenity._

_Liánhuā was able to convey that the magic will only come in times of trouble that would terminate in disastrous consequences._

And thus, the entry ended.

"Well, that was vague!" Plagg decided.

"Wait… but this means… something's happened that would end badly?"

" _Very_  badly, if the contents of the entry tells us anything," Wayzz agreed, nodding.

"But… what?" Adrien exclaimed. "Is it Hawkmoth? What's so bad that Nature  _itself_  needed to intervene?"

Tikki looked over to Plagg. Both shrugged, and silence overtook the room.

"It seems we have created more questions in the hopes of finding answers," Master Fu said calmly, getting up to clear away the teacups.

No one but Wayzz noticed the amused smile on his face when he left for the kitchen.

Adrien shook his head, slumping. Both of the kwamis fluttered over.

"Kid, I said this when we started, and I'll say it again; there's nothing we can do," Plagg reminded him. "Mlle. Snow White will have to wake up on her own."

"I have to agree with Plagg," Tikki spoke softly, "The  _Blessing of the Flowers_ happened to Ladybug, not us. She has to figure it out on her own."

Hearing their conversation, Wayzz moved to speak up. "Adrien, I know this is a lot, but you really  _should_  head home. I have no doubt a sudden disappearance will be widely noted."

Plagg nudged Adrien, and he drawled, "Of course.  _Wouldn't want to worry my father now,_ **would I**?"

He made to get up, opened up his coat for Plagg to fly into, and looked up at Tikki. "You coming?" he asked.

Tikki looked back at Wayzz, gave a small wave, and followed after Plagg.

Inside his coat, Plagg grumbled to Tikki.

"He'd be better off without the crush," he muttered.

She looked over at him, sighing. "It'll work out… hopefully."

They relaxed, listening to the rhythmic pattern of Adrien's feet as he headed back to his house.

"I sure hope it does," Plagg whispered quietly.

 

On the other side of the paper…

 

Marinette tried, for what seemed like the hundredth time, to go through the motions she was supposed to do while yelling "Haemolymph!"

"Front, back… turn it and hook!" Tikki instructed. "C'mon kid, it's not that hard."

Marinette winced as the practice yo-yo she was using hit her in the back.

"Front, back, turn… and hook," she repeated, trying again.

She watched as the wooden yo-yo swooped front, back, spun… and landed flat.

She collapsed onto the bed, groaning.

Tikki shook her head. "Kid, you almost had it. Just… hook!" she said, managing to do the hand motions perfectly.

Marinette looked up at her kwami and rolled over. "Maybe in… five minutes?"

"Uh-huh, and then you'll just keep making excuses," Tikki retorted, reading between the lines.

"Oh, alright." Marinette said, slowly getting up. Tikki waved the yo-yo in her face and she wrapped the loop around her middle finger.

"Front, back, turn and hook," she muttered to herself.

She thrust the yo-yo forward, swung it back, tensed it so it could spin in a circle, and… hooked it onto the chair's leg.

"Finally!" she cried.

"Alright, kid. Don't get too excited. I'll need to see that three times again before I can deem you good enough." Tikki reminded her.

With a look of complete concentration, Marinette did it once, then twice, and finally three times more.

"Okay, I'll give you it, though your hook on the last was a little sloppy," Tikki said, trying to appear reprimanding but failing to cover up the pride glimmering in her eyes.

"Now, let's move on to the scenarios. You're good enough with the puns and nicknames, but Ladybug's got more than that to her personality.

"Ladybug always throws herself in harm's way for Chat. She gets reprimanded, shrugs it off with a flirt or a pun, and jumps back into action. So…" Tikki finished, throwing a pillow at her.

Due to her reflexes, she immediately dodged it.

"And, Chat Noir goes SPLAT!" Tikki proclaimed.

"Right, right."

Pillow #2 hit her elbow, bouncing off. She gave Tikki a confused glance, and was assured that, yes, Chat had definitely been hit in this imaginary scenario.

"Again!" she yelled, throwing Pillow #3 at Marinette.

#3 hit Mari on the leg and prompted Tikki to throw Pillow #4.

Marinette was ready this time, and - it hit her in the chest. "Ow," she winced, surprised at the pillow's apparent strength.

"Nuh-uh!" Tikki reminded her. "Cheesy pickup lines, not wincing! And, seriously kid? These things are made of feathers!"

Pillows #5, 6, and 7 ended in a similar conclusion.

It was only when Pillow #8 hit her dead on when Marinette finally managed not to flinch. Unfortunately, that was when Tikki decided to spice things up.

Pillow #9 was thrown to her far left, "hitting Chat" when Marinette missed.

#10, however, hit Marinette dead on. She ended up on the floor, and quickly exclaimed, "Why, it seems I've  _fallen_  for you again, m'lord!" while winking.

"There you go!" Tikki chirped. " _That's_ a Ladybug line!"

"Oh!" Tikki said, remembering. "Kid, you can't forget. If Chat ever is endangered by an akuma that can force him to be controlled by them, you've got to take the blow as well. It's not just a Ladybug thing, it also needs to happen. Chat's the only one who can reset everything and purify the akuma, so you have to make sure that he doesn't get zombified or whatever."

"I'm not as important as Chat Noir…" Marinette realised.

"I wouldn't put it like that, kid. No need to damage your own self-esteem. It's just a matter of who can reset any damage done in the scenario." Tikki said, scolding.

Marinette was hit with a wave of appreciation for the Chat back home.  _He had to sacrifice himself so many times, just because she was the one who could reset it all_.

"Nah, it's okay!" Marinette reassured her.

"Alrighty then. You're pretty good, we've just got to work on your jealousy."

"Je-jealousy?"

Tikki gestured to the computer screen. "Kid, you've got a crush on Chat."

Marinette staggered backwards. _Wait… but… this means…_

She blocked the thoughts out of her head, for now. She could deal with them later.

"S-so, how do I do that?"

"Impersonate the green-eyed monster?" Tikki offered, shrugging. When Marinette stared at her blankly, she smiled. "I'm just kidding! You've just gotta become really protective of your 'm'lord' whenever he's with another girl. Easy enough!"

Marinette chuckled, remembering her rage at Chloe slow dancing with Adrien when Nino was akumatized. "I'm pretty sure I've already got that down."

"Well, then just multiply it by two or whatever! I'm telling you, kid, Ladybug will straight up  _punch_  a girl that so much as held hands with Chat." Tikki said, chuckling. "Oh, she was a  _disaster_  when that artist was akumatized into Ladymimic! Telling that poor guy she and Chat were together…"

Marinette stared at him.

"Ooooh, riiiight." Tikki said, realizing. "Chat probably did that in your world… and you never found out, did yah?

"...I know Ladybug never told Chat in this world, she'd probably die of- oh, I feel  _really_  bad for the Chat back where you live."

"Oookay! Moving on!" Marinette chirped, deciding not to dwell any further on the subject, for now.

"So… you've got the Haemolymph thing down, you're good with the whole 'take the blow' stuff, and… you're good with the jealousy. Let's see, what other part of Ladybug's personality are we- oh!" Tikki said, facepalming. "How could I forget?"

"As Ladybug, you typically distract the akuma while Chat Noir figures out how to use his Collar Charm."

"How exactly do I distract them?" Marinette asked. As Ladybug, she was usually too focused on what _on earth_ her Lucky Charm was meant for, so she only had even caught bits and glances of Chat when he was distracting the Akuma.

"Oh, you usually throw your yo-yo at them to get their attention. From there, it's a combination of cheesy puns and insults to get on their nerves. You dodge a bunch of attempted attacks, Chat figures out how to use his Charm, and you defeat the akuma."

Seemed easy enough, Marinette thought.

"Now, let's see your best smacktalk, Ladybug version."

Marinette thought of the last akuma she'd encountered, and tried her best.

"Hey, pardon the intrusion, but where's the  _train?_ All I'm seeing is the  _wreck!_ " she tried.

Tikki shook her head. "That was  _awful_."

"Hey! Monsieur  _Bulldozer_ , I believe you're forgetting about a certain bug! Scared I'll wreck that pretty little face of yours?" Marinette taunted.

"Whoa, kid! No need to channel your inner super villain!" Tikki exclaimed. "Try it again, a little less vicious this time."

"Hey Train Wreck, look  _my_  way, cause this bug's gonna run you over! Haemolymph!" she called, picking up her wooden yo-yo and finishing the smacktalk with her Haemolymph flare.

"Alright, that'll do for now." Tikki decided.

Marinette took a glance at the clock and yelped. "Tikki, I've gotta get to bed! Maman or Papa will be up in five minutes!"

Just my luck, she thought while changing into her pajamas. She rushed into bed and pulled the covers so that they'd cover both her and Tikki.

"Goodnight Tikki." she whispered.

"'Night kid."


	5. The Flipped Love Square

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette is officially done with the alternate reality she's in and the twisted humor it seems to have, while simultaneously being as oblivious as always as to what the changes translate to back home. 
> 
> Also including:  
> -Adrien STILL worried  
> -Tikki showing her "Mom Mode" and then having somewhat of a panic attack  
> -Master Fu's incredible abilities  
> -Wayzz's powers

Chapter Five:

 _Great_ , Marinette thought while running down the street. _I'm probably just going to have to get used to this._

Of  **course**. She just  _had_  to have forgotten about setting an alarm. Considering Tikki was all for sleeping in, she was almost an hour late for class.

Mlle. Bustier was going to kill her, she decided, sighing. She'd already had to deal with a lecture from her parents, and she wasn't looking forward to another.

Tikki flew out from her coat, tilting her head.

"Kid, even if you're from an alternate reality, I'd think you've known that the school's that way," she reprimanded, pointing behind Marinette.

Marinette groaned before turning around and running in the other direction.

Suffice it to say, she entered the room out of breath and looking thoroughly exhausted.

"Well,  _look what the cat dragged in_ ," Sabrina drawled. Unbeknownst to her and everyone else in the room, Adrien flinched.

Marinette just shook her head before sliding into her seat. "Sorry, Mlle. Bustier. Alarm didn't go off," she lied.

Mlle. Bustier just shook her head and went back to the lesson.

"Girl," Alya whispered, "you've  _got_  to stop sleeping in if you want to understand anything in school."

"Trust me, I know." Marinette muttered in reply, getting out her notebook and flipping to a fresh page.

An hour later she had a partly sufficient page or two of notes about Greek dynasties and was currently helplessly trying to fill out a Maths worksheet.

In this alternate universe, they were apparently on completely different lessons. She missed the Pythagorean Theorem of home. She'd been able to figure that out after a couple sessions with Tikki. (You'd be surprised how many times her kwami's Chosen has been in collège.)

 _Well_ , she mused,  _at least Science hasn't gotten to Physics yet_.

She scribbled a little more on the page, trying to figure out if she was supposed to divide or square the latest step. She ended up doing both and debating over which looked like the answer.

She ended up just sighing and putting her pencil down. She looked over to Alya, hoping to get some advice on the problem, when she noticed Adrien  _staring_  at her.

Once Adrien realized he'd been caught, he looked away, almost seeming to… blush?  _No, that wasn't possible_ , Marinette tried to convince herself as her heart started to race.

She quickly looked away. When she looked back at the mess on her worksheet, she raised her hand. "Mlle. Bustier? May I use the bathroom?"

The teacher in question looked up at her and sighed, just barely nodding her head. Marinette scampered out of the classroom and let Tikki fly out of her coat before splashing some water on her face.

She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, finding the same purple eyes and flower tucked in her hair as yesterday. "Do you see that?" she asked Tikki.

"Huh?"

"The flower!" Marinette exclaimed.

Tikki just stared at her.

"Nevermind," Marinette said, sighing. When she tried to touch the flower and her hand went straight through, she confirmed it. Whatever magic brought her here  _really_  liked to mess with her.

She was about to leave when she realized that, in the morning's chaos, she'd forgotten to put her hair up in its typical pigtails. No  _wonder_  Adrien was staring at her, she never did that.

She scrambled around in her purse, but found only one hairband. She did the best she could anyways, and left with her hair in a lazy ponytail. Today was, apparently, the day for trying new things.

Marinette was greeted, once she entered the room, with the sound of the lunch bell. Alya rushed over, grabbed Marinette's hand, and pulled her to their lunch table.

Alya fixed Marinette with a look that threatened to kill. "Now, if you would  _please_  explain why you didn't bother to check the blog last night, that'd be  **great**."

She momentarily blanked before realizing what Alya meant. Riiight, she'd promised Alya yesterday.

"I forgot to comment?" Marinette offered hopefully.

"Uh-huh. Girl, we didn't even have that much homework last night! You couldn't have typed a quick 'job well done' or something?" Alya exclaimed, annoyed.

"I-I…" Marinette tried to think of an excuse. _She-she what? Spent the majority of the afternoon learning to become this world's version of Ladybug via pillows and wooden yo-yos? Yeah, **that**  would go down well._

Alya shook her head, poking Marinette in the stomach. "...weren't interested because it didn't include a certain  _black_   _cat_?" she teased.

Marinette tried to blush while putting her best flustered face on.  _This world's Marinette/Ladybug has a crush on Chat_ , she reminded herself.

"N-no!" she stammered, placing a mental picture of Adrien in Chat's place and channeling her crush as best she could. "W-why would I do t-that?"

Alya just winked. "C'mon girl, I've seen the posters in your room. You're  _obsessed_."

She was formulating another stuttered response when Nino walked up to them, dragging Adrien behind him.

"Hey guys! Mind if we come sit?" he asked.

Marinette did her best not to stare at Adrien. Alya gave her a weird look before smiling at Nino and responding, "Of course not! Why would we?"

She moved over to make room and gestured for Marinette to do the same. Marinette followed and internally sighed. She was supposed to like  _Chat_  in this world, not Adrien.

"Hey Nino, hey Adrien!" she managed to say, forcing a smile. Nino smiled, waved at her, and elbowed Adrien.

"H-hey M-Marinette," came Adrien's response.

She froze.  _Oh_   _no_ , she internally whimpered.  _Please_   _no_.

Adrien had a crush on her in this world and she was supposed to like  _Chat Noir_  instead.

Oh,  **how**  she hated whatever cruel force had got her into this situation.

 

Sorry not sorry! And onto the other side of the story…

 

Adrien sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

Plagg, who'd been dealing with his lovesick behavior ever since Day One, didn't bother to take any interest, but Tikki did, fluttering over.

"She'll be okay," she comforted.

Plagg muttered something while nibbling in his camembert, well aware of how this would turn out.

"But… what if she isn't? What if she gets stuck and doesn't make it back?"

"She will. _The Blessing of the Flowers_ isn't a curse, Adrien."

"...sometimes it feels like it is." he replied disdainfully.

Plagg gave up on his post-lunch snack. " _God_ , kid, just stop worrying! Your girlfriend will be fine."

Adrien tried to glare at him, but his face was busy turning bright red. "Well, maybe if  _somebody_  didn't make Trixx stomp off, I'd feel a little better about whatever magic she's under."

"Not my fault she's so  _sensitive_ ," Plagg retorted.

"Alright, guys." Tikki said. "What's done is done. Adrien, stop with the blame game and Plagg, the snide comments aren't appreciated.  _All_  kwamis have their faults."

"Why do I always end up with the lovesick ones?" Plagg muttered, just loud enough for Adrien to hear, before flying away.

Tikki gave Adrien an encouraging smile. "Ladybug's state isn't something to blame on yourself or to worry yourself sick about. She'll fix whatever problem needs to be fixed and be back as soon as possible."

"...you're right." Adrien said, sighing. "I'll try not to worry so much. Don't want my friends getting suspicious at school tomorrow. Sorry Plagg."

Tikki suddenly stiffened. "I'll be back."

"Wha- Tikki!" Adrien exclaimed, but Tikki had already flew through the open window.

Back at Master Fu's…

Tikki flew in, slightly out of breath.

"Wayzz! Master Fu!" she called.

The turtle kwami flew towards her, followed closely by Master Fu.

"What seems to be the problem, Tikki?" Fu asked.

"Ladybug… Marinette… secret identity… reveal… school..." the red kwami blurted, clearly scared.

"Master, this is quite the problem!" Wayzz exclaimed.

"Now, no need to worry," Fu said, smiling at the kwamis. "I've known you'd inquire about this, Tikki. You've always been one for preserving identities."

Tikki stared up at him expectantly.

"I happen to be good friends with Marinette's parents." he said, smiling.

"Shortly after you and Adrien came to visit the first time, I called to let them know that Marinette had been selected to attend a program to learn how to… better embrace her Chinese heritage, I believe that was how I put it.

"She's supposed to be boarding with me for the next three weeks to do so, and I've assured her parents she'll be tutored in place of her classes.

"I also managed to convince them that I told Marinette about this shortly after she left school today and she's been staying here because of the akuma attack. They sent over a bag for her earlier." he finished.

Wayzz, who had been quiet while listening to Fu's explanation, immediately apologized.

"I forgot you phoned the Dupain-Chengs."

"It's quite alright." Fu assured him.

"So anyone who asks will be told about the program?" Tikki summarized, relieved.

Master Fu nodded.

"And if anyone comes to check on her? Give her homework?" she inquired.

"Wayzz?" Fu instructed.

Wayzz flowed with a green light.

"Hello?" he called, sounding exactly like Marinette.

(I gave Wayzz this power because, since turtles represent knowledge, I believe that if he ever saw Trixx use the voice adaptation alongside her powers, he would be able to learn how to as well. Of course, this would take an excessive amount of energy so that it wouldn't be overpowered.)

Master Fu poured a cup of tea and gifted it to Wayzz.

Tikki shook her head. "I'm sorry Master Fu, I should've known you'd have had it under control."

"No need to apologize, it's normal to be concerned. Should I have forgotten, your inquires would've reminded me."

"Well, thank you!" she exclaimed, fluttering out of the window back to Adrien.

When Adrien asked what she'd scurried of to do, she simply said she'd had to check up on Ladybug.

 

Meanwhile, at the other end of the wardrobe…

 

Back at home, Marinette slumped down on her desk, exhausted. It'd taken  _all_  of her strength to speak clearly in front of Adrien and act like she hadn't figured out his crush.

Classes afterwards hadn't been exactly thrilling, even during the easier lessons, because of her realization that, just like she did back home, Adrien was  _constantly_  staring at the back of her head. She  _had_  to fix that when she got home.

When Marinette ducked into the bathroom to discuss this with Tikki towards the end of the day, the little kwami only chuckled about her smitten Chosen.

"You're even worse then the  _real_  Ladybug!" she'd exclaimed.

In current time, Marinette sighed and lifted her head up. The Chat Noir desktop wallpaper grinned back at her, and she felt conflicted.

She couldn't believe that this Ladybug loved Chat Noir, because of what it meant for her back home.

 _It's just the magic messing with me_ , she tried to convince herself, ignoring the voice in the back of her head telling her otherwise.

Marinette got up and grabbed her wooden yo-yo, deciding to work on some exercises. She eventually ended up repeating the Haemolymph move. Puns flitted in and out of her mind as she imagined herself in various situations.

 _Smacktalking was definitely her weakest link_ , she mused.  _How did Chat usually go about it?_

She vaguely remembered a mix of puns and teasing.  _But teasing about what?_

 _Oh_ , she thought as she realized.  _Chat always played off of what they were akumatized for. He reminded them of the weakness that Hawkmoth had supposedly let them overcome, forcing them to make him a target in order to disprove him_.

Marinette would be able to do that, with a little thinking and decisive reasoning.

She'd also need to remember that she didn't have Lucky Charm or Miraculous Ladybug anymore. That'd just mess her up further.

"Haemolymph!" she tried. She didn't sound… confident enough.

"Haemolymph!" she yelled. Nope, she just sounded like a newbie.

"Haemolymph."

"HAEMOLYMPH!"

" _Haemo_ lymph!"

"Haemo _lymph_!"

At one point, she just ended up doing various accents and impressions. Of them all, the British version definitely sounded the worst, but the Darth Vader impression came in close second. Tikki looked over once or twice from the stack of pastries that'd been drawing her attention, and shook her head.

She thought back to Chat Noir, how he'd look while using Cataclysm, and did her best.

"Haemolymph!" she exclaimed, expertly flipping her wooden yo-yo and smiling.  _Almost_ …

Marinette tried again, this time adjusting her smile, and ending up doing a pretty good job with sounding clear and practiced. Tikki fluttered over to her desk when she was finished.

"Want me to test you on your ability to protect Chat?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm pretty sure you just want to throw pillows at me," Marinette replied, chuckling. "But sure, you never know when I'll have to deal with an akuma after all."

Tikki hummed happily, and immediately flung two pillows at Marinette.

Luckily, they both were aimed for the same general area, so Marinette was able to flip over to where they'd land. Unfortunately, she'd calculated their arc wrong, so only one hit her, the other skimming her elbow.

Sometime after the sixth or so pillow, Marinette started to wonder if Chat ever practiced like this.  _He have had to be pretty skilled to jump in front of me during Timebreaker and Dark Cupid_ , she figured.

After a while, Marinette was able to "protect Chat" almost everytime, excluding the spiral of seven Tikki had gleefully thrown at one point.

"Why do you enjoy this?" she inquired, out of breath after Tikki had flung a burst of three.

Tikki shrugged. "Centuries of villians grates on you, kid. It's stress relieving."

"But why me?" Marinette had exclaimed as a group of four were thrown at her.

 _I have a **lot**  of pillows_, she realized.

"You need the practice," came the response.

Marinette just smiled and shook her head.  _How on earth did Chat deal with his kwami?_  she wondered.

Tikki eventually gave up, probably bored, and flew off to her stack of macaroons. Marinette wandered over to her computer and pulled up  _Noir News_ ; reminded of her broken promise to check it yesterday.

The headline  _Ladybug: A Different Person!?_  greeted her, and she froze in her seat, breathing heavily. _Oh, this was_ **bad.**


End file.
